Carnival - Carnevale

There you go! Sardinians as well like to celebrate Carnevale. For this year, here you are a brief selection of traditional masks.

These are the Mamuthones together with the Issokatores; they come from the village of Mamoiada, in the central mountains.

http://flickr.com/photos/bribantilla/sets/72157594490369867/

It is rather obvious. The Mamuthones are beasts, and the Issokatores are men who herd them. The Mamuthones are men, who are herded by the hands of destiny. The Mamuthones are Sardinian, and the Issokatores are foreign invaders. And more so, that I can't imagine now.

There are a few clips on Youtube showing them, but I decided not to inflict them on you.

The second part of the selection is the Sardinian version of one of the many "knight" tournaments. Here you have to catch a hanging metal star on the point of your sword.

http://www.sartiglia.org/sartiglia2006.htm

The trick is that there is always an element of pure luck (the organizing committee, which is called with a Spanish name the "Gremio", can balance the luck by finicking with the diameter of the hole in the center of the star, I heard that nowadays larger sizes are favoured to please the tourist crowd). There are explanations in other contexts about the fact that a balance of luck and skill is essential to keep things interesting; and I find a literary explanation easier to follow than a symbolic representation, but I think the idea is there.
If it happens to you to wander off in other pages of the above cited website, please note that not all clothing is carnival-esque; especially none of the women's clothing is - those are the traditional dresses for the day of feast. The city where the tournament is held is called Oristano.

And finally, I shall say good-bye for now with this:

http://flickr.com/photos/francocerniglia/381269202/in/pool-carnevalesardegna/

a "Boe" (Ox).